Household material for Kids (Age 8-12) -November. Theme: God gives us strength so Trust God. 1) Prepare 30 Minutes

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1 Household material for Kids (Age 8-12) -November Theme: God gives us strength so Trust God 1) Prepare 30 Minutes a) Start with teaching the kids a song or two with some actions b) Introductory activity c) Review the last month s psalm verse and introduce the new memory verse d) Teach them a traditional prayer Lead them to praise and worship with the help of the songs and psalms they learned and conclude with the traditional prayer. Don t forget to repeat the theme throughout the 3 hours, you can even do it with simple actions. 1 a) Songs i. Repeat some songs they are familiar with ii. What a Mighty God we serve iii. Jehovah Jirah iv. Battle belongs to the Lord v. God will guide us 1b) Introductory Activity Teach the children the song "My God is so big so strong and so mighty There s nothing my God cannot do There s nothing my God cannot do. The Mountains are his, the valleys are his, the stars are his handiwork too There s nothing my God cannot do Ask them to introduce themselves and choose any one from the following they identify with: eagle, dolphin, lion, sparrow, dove Then have the children group themselves according to the animals they chose. Direct kids to answer the following questions in their small groups: One unique quality you have Share 2 skills/talents you have with your friends After they discuss these questions the facilitator explains that God created everything with unique features and qualities. Then he invites them [not all] to perform any of the talents they

2 have. Explain that, He created you with some special qualities and talents. He gives you strength to use these talents and live up to His plans and dreams which He has set for your good. He is strong and mighty. Make them sing the song once again. 1c) Memory Verse i) Last month s memory verse was Exodus 16:15 But Moses told them, This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. ii) For this month teach Exodus 17: 11 As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Include some dynamics to make it interesting. You can ask them to make a song out of this verse - an action song would be better. 2) Present- 2 Hours a) Narrate the Bible Story for the Month b) Activity within the story c) Key Message and Key Bible Verse d) Games e) Section on Saint and activity based on it f) KidCat 2a) Bible Story Narrate the Bible Story for the Month We are nearing the end of our journey in Exodus. Recap: The Israelites after leaving Egypt (under Pharaoh s rule) are wandering through the desert. When they were hungry God provided them with manna and quail from above. When the Israelites were thirsty God commanded Moses to strike a rock with his staff and water came out of the rock for everyone to drink. But their challenges are not over yet! A group of people called the Amalekites are going to attack them. How will they get strength to fight in a war? Will they survive this? Let s read what happened: Exodus 17: 8-15 To help kids associate the words with their meaning you may also want to draw/ print appropriate pictures of Amalek, Joshua (Moses s assistant), Moses, etc. Define War (for the younger kids) 2b) Activity within the story Have the kids keep both the hands raised high as the story is being read from the Bible. Connect how just as their hands are getting tired Moses s hands also got tired. Discussion:

3 What was Moses doing when he raised his hands up? (praying) There is a common saying that As praise goes up, power comes down. This is how we need to be in our lives as we seem to be losing any battle we need to start praying/praising. God will provide us the necessary strength. What are some battles we might face everyday where we need God s strength? (Unkind people, when people misunderstand you, when you don t feel accepted, etc) How can we fight these battles? (When we start praying/praising we submit ourselves to God. He will then take over and fight these battles for us and give us the necessary strength). 2c) Key message and Key Bible verse God helps defeat the Amalekites (Exodus 17) Exodus 17:11 As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. 2d) Game We are going to have a small battle of Amalekites vs. Israelites. Items needed: a deck of cards for every two to four kids Divide kids into pairs or every four kids and distribute a deck of cards to them. They are to remove any face cards (a king, queen or jack). Then they are to shuffle and divide the cards evenly among their pairs until all the cards have been passed out. The kids are to sit facing their partner, with all the pairs sitting next to each other in a line. One side will be called the Israelites and other side the Amalekites. They start their game of war when they flip over the top card in their stack (without looking). Only the person who flipped the higher card takes both cards. If there is a tie, each player puts three cards face down and then flips over the fourth card. The player who flips the higher fourth card gets all eight cards. The winner is declared when one player or the other has all the cards.. Encourage the Israelites or the Amalekites to cheer on their fellow players once their games have finished. Question: Was it more helpful when your teammates came and cheered you on? (their responses) Often things are more doable with support on our side. 2e) Section on Saint: Saint George Patron Saint: England, Catalonia Feast day : April 23 Have you heard about the knight, St. George of great bravery and strength? This month let us learn how he trusted God and how courageous he was. Saint George was born to a Christian family of Cappadocia (now Eastern Turkey) in A.D. 270 as the son of a Roman Army official. His mother was from Palestine. His name, George, means worker of the land. Little George had a strong Christian upbringing. At the age of fourteen, he lost his father; after a few years, his mother also died. After the death of his parents, George decided to go to Nicomedia, the imperial city of that time and joined the army as a soldier. His bravery and valour made him the imperial guard of the Emperor at Nicomedia. However, the time was not favourable for Christians. It was the time when Diocletian started his persecutions against the Christians; Saint George with the

4 courage of his faith claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ and thus denied the false idols. He suffered many tortures because of his belief, but never considered renouncing it. Many attempts were made to convert George, even offerings of money, slaves and land on his sacrifice to the Roman gods were made; but George never accepted and stayed strong by trusting Jesus. Once, George came to the city of Silence in Libya. There he met a poor hermit who told him that the land is in great distress, for a dragon had long ravaged the country. The dragon was poisoning all the country. Whenever he approached the city he poisoned the people with his breath, and therefore the people of the city gave to him every day two sheep to eat, so that he would do no harm to the people. When they ran out of sheep, he was given a man and a sheep. Then an ordinance was made that the children and young people of the town should be chosen by lot to feed the dragon. Whoever the lot fell upon, wealthy or poor, he or she was delivered to the dragon. Every day, the dragon demands the sacrifice. And, now it is the turn of the King s daughter, said the hermit. When St. George heard this story, he was determined to try and save the princess. When he drew near the pond, he saw the princess heading towards the place, where the dragon lived. He stopped near the princess and told her, I shall help you in the name of Jesus Christ. But the princess was in great distress and could not believe his words and said, For God's sake, good knight, go your way, for you cannot save me. While they were talking, the dragon appeared and came running towards them. Saint George, who was on his horse, drew his sword, made the sign of the cross, then rode swiftly toward the dragon and struck him with his spear injuring him severely. Then he said to the princess, "Tie your belt around the dragon's neck, and be not afraid." When she had done so, the dragon followed her meekly. She led him into the city, and the people fled in fear. Saint George said to the people, "Doubt not. Trust and believe in God and Jesus Christ, be baptized and strengthened, and I shall slay the dragon." Then the king and all his people were baptized, whereupon Saint George killed the dragon and cut off his head. It took four ox-carts to remove his body from the city. Thus Saint George saved the land with the courage and strength he received from the God almighty. Let us all ask for the intercession of the Saint to lead a life of bravery and valour trusting upon God. Activity based on the Saint Ask the kids to answer the following in a paper and discuss: 1. My greatest strengths as a person are 2. People can count on me to 3. Things I do to keep my friendship with God healthy and strong are 2f) Kidcat (Youcat 40,CCC 268,269,273) Can God do everything? Is he all powerful? Nothing is impossible for God. He is all powerful. Grandmother : Oh! You are back from catechism class? What did you study today?

5 Kid : Grandma, we had lot of fun today. We did a play on the story of David and Goliath. God made little David all powerful to defeat the mighty Goliath. Grandma, how does God strengthen someone? Grandmother : I will explain. Yesterday, why did you ask for the help of your father to lift that box? Kid : Dad has strength. So when we together lifts the box, it will be easy. Grandmother : See! Just like that, when the almighty God helps us in doing things, it becomes easier. Kid : God strengthens us the same way He strengthened David right Grandma? Grandmother : There is nothing impossible for God. Haven t you read Mother Mary praising God in Bible, For the Mighty One had done great things for me. We trust and depend in God and He performs great things through us. Kid : Now onwards I will do things only through Jesus. 3) Preserve: 30 Minutes a) Summary Activity b) Conclusion Repeating the message helps in impressing it in their heart and mind. It is always better to summarize the day with some activity which would help them to make something that they can carry home. It will be a reminder of the message back at home. 3a) Summary Activity and assignment: Activity idea (1): Just like the Lord provides our needs we are God s hands and feet to help others. Continue collecting items for the needy. It could be anything from non-perishable goods, clothes, toys, etc. These are to be distributed during Christmas time. Activity idea (2): Hands held high (page 3-4) moses_holds_ up_his_hands.pdf Spend some time with this group in prayer especially by raising hands and praising God. 3b) Concluding Prayer Help them to pray a small prayer on their own with some songs they learned